Learn the German Alphabet

Das Alphabet

Learn to read the German Alphabet (Das Alphabet): all 30 letters with names, sounds and audio, plus flashcards, listening, typing and matching practice.

Letter	Name	Latin letters	Sound
A a	Ah	a	a as in father; short and clipped in closed syllables (Mann), long before h or a double vowel (Bahn, Saal)
B b	Beh	b	b as in ball; at the end of a word it hardens to p (gelb sounds like 'gelp')
C c	Tseh	c	alone it is rare (mostly loanwords: k before a, o, u; ts before e, i); in ch it makes a breathy hiss: after e, i, ä, ö, ü like a whispered 'hyuh' (ich), after a, o, u like Scottish loch (Buch)
D d	Deh	d	d as in dog; at the end of a word it hardens to t (Hund sounds like 'hunt')
E e	Eh	e	short e as in bed; long e like 'ay' in say but without the glide (See); unstressed e at the end is a soft 'uh' (Tante)
F f	Ef	f	f as in fish
G g	Geh	g	always hard g as in go, never as in gem; at the end of a word it hardens to k (Tag sounds like 'tahk')
H h	Hah	h	h as in house at the start of a syllable; after a vowel it is silent and just makes the vowel long (gehen, Kuh)
I i	Ee	i	short i as in bit (Kind); long i as in machine, often spelled ie (Liebe)
J j	Yot	j	like English y in yes, never like the j of jam
K k	Kah	k	k as in kite; the k in kn is pronounced too (Knie)
L l	El	l	a clear l as in leaf, with the tongue tip forward, never the dark l of English full
M m	Em	m	m as in mother
N n	En	n	n as in no; ng is always as in singer, never as in finger
O o	Oh	o	short o as in British hot (Sonne); long o as in go but with no 'w' glide at the end (Brot)
P p	Peh	p	p as in pen; in pf you say both sounds together, p then f (Apfel)
Q q	Koo	q	always written qu and said 'kv', like k plus German w (bequem sounds like 'be-kvehm')
R r	Air	r	made at the back of the throat, like a soft gargle or a gentle French r; at the end of a word or syllable it softens into a vowel like 'uh' (Bruder sounds like 'broo-duh')
S s	Es	s	before a vowel it buzzes like z in zoo (Sonne); otherwise s as in sun; sch is sh, and st/sp at the start of a word are 'sht'/'shp' (Straße)
T t	Teh	t	t as in top; th is also just t (Theater)
U u	Oo	u	short u as in put (und); long u as in moon (Uhr), never the 'yoo' of English use
V v	Fow	v	usually f as in fish (Vater sounds like 'fah-ter'); v as in van only in loanwords (Vase)
W w	Veh	w	like English v in van (Wasser sounds like 'vasser'), never like the w of water
X x	Iks	x	ks as in box
Y y	Ipsilon	y	in German words it sounds like ü (Typ); in English loanwords it keeps an i or y sound (Handy, Yoga)
Z z	Tset	z	ts as in cats, even at the start of a word (Zeit sounds like 'tsite'), never the buzzing z of zoo
Ä ä	Ae	ä/ae	sounds like e in bed, short or long (Käse sounds like 'keh-zuh'); written ae when umlauts are not available
Ö ö	Oe	ö/oe	no English equivalent: say 'ay' as in say, then round your lips as if for 'o' and hold them there (schön)
Ü ü	Ue	ü/ue	no English equivalent: say 'ee' as in see, then round your lips tightly as if for 'oo' while keeping the tongue in place (grün, Tür)
ẞ ß	Eszett	ß/ss	always a sharp, hissing s as in sun (never a buzzing z); used after long vowels and diphthongs (Straße, groß); written ss when ß is unavailable

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